Tyler fence company
Sun turns bare wood gray, and humidity and sprinklers keep it wet at the bottom. A penetrating stain slows both. We clean the fence, let it dry, and apply a semi-transparent or solid stain to both sides where you can reach them, keeping it off your plants, siding and driveway.
Freshly treated pine often feels damp and heavy, and stain put on too soon sits on the surface and peels. The simple test is a splash of water on a few boards in the sun and in the shade. If it soaks in within a few minutes, the wood can take stain; if it beads or sits, it needs more drying. We check boards on each side of the fence, because the shaded side of a line can lag well behind the sunny side. Cedar and kiln-dried lumber are usually ready much sooner than wet-treated pine.
An older fence carries a gray layer of sun-damaged fibers, plus mildew in the shade and red clay splashed up from the ground. Stain over that layer bonds to it and flakes off with it. We apply a wood cleaner, rinse at low pressure so the grain isn't furred or gouged, and follow with a brightener where the wood has darkened. The fence then has to dry again before any stain goes on, which is why cleaning and staining are often separate days.
A semi-transparent stain soaks into the wood and tints it while leaving the grain visible, so a cedar or pine fence still looks like wood. It fades gradually and can be recoated without stripping. A solid stain behaves more like paint: it hides the grain, evens out a fence built from mismatched boards, and lasts longer between coats, but when it wears it can peel, and going back to a see-through finish later means stripping it. On a newer cedar board-on-board fence most owners pick semi-transparent; on an older pine fence patched with new boards, solid often looks better.
Stain on one side only still helps, but water gets in through the bare face, so we stain both sides where we can reach them. The neighbor's side needs their permission and access, and we can ask for you. Before spraying, we cover plants, the house siding, AC units, cars and the driveway, and back-brush the stain into the wood so it doesn't run. Nobody sprays when it's windy.
Stain needs a dry fence, a few hours of dry weather after it goes on, and temperatures within the range printed on the can. A spring of steady rain can push the start date around, and midsummer heat can flash the stain dry before it soaks in, so hot afternoons are avoided. For a new build, plan the pine privacy fence first and book staining once it has dried; after a repair, stain the whole run once the replaced boards are ready so the color blends.
What sets the timeline? The length and height of the fence, whether one side or both, how weathered the wood is, and the weather on the day.
These often come up on the same property, and can be quoted from the same visit:
Pressure-treated pine privacy fences, 6 or 8 feet tall, in dog-ear, flat-top or shadowbox styles, on posts set in concrete.
Read more →Cedar privacy fences, board-on-board and horizontal slat, that resist rot and stay straighter than pine in East Texas humidity.
Read more →Leaning fence sections, rotted and broken posts, storm and fallen-limb damage, sagging gates and loose pickets.
Read more →Free estimate
Tell us where the fence goes and what you have in mind. We’ll call back to set a time to measure.
We’ll call to set up a time to measure. To talk sooner, call (903) 560-4422
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